The Courage Performance Blog

Well, it’s that time of year again where I share this picture and feel the have a need to say something about my late mother and what she did for me and so many other people. With so much happening in my life, it’s nice to sometimes sit back and think about how she would have viewed everything. Today marks the day she would have turned 63, and as has become customary for me each year on her birthday, I spend a bunch of time looking at the things I have in my life and assessing them through my her eyes. I remember every time I would tell her I met someone new, a friend, a girl, a coach, a teacher, anyone, she would ask “is that person good to you?” I would always sort of blow this question off because my interest in people had less to do with if they would support me and my life, and more to do with my level of interest/intrigue in them. But my mother seemed to have a really great understanding that the people you bring into your life should only be people that help you become the best version of you. People you find entertaining, or bring you down, or hurt you, or do absolutely nothing for you at a deeper level should really not be in your life that much. I even remember rebelling a bit against her with this and ultimately experiencing a lot of pain and hurt when I chose to stick around bad people too long. But as I found out pretty quickly, my mother was pretty spot on. She had a simple way about her. All of us in the family would make fun of her (and still sometime enjoy a laugh or two) and how she would believe almost anything. She just seemed to float through life. But all along she would connect with people in such a deep and moving way that it was impossible not to notice. She understood what she loved and cared for, she understood what her time on earth was ultimately about. This is an incredibly powerful thing to know, and something that I am finding out more and more that most people just don’t know. And most of these people don’t even really think about that sort of thing. But my mothers’ ability to be both heavily grounded, and floating through space, allowed her to seemingly be at peace with her life. And because of this she affected the family and many others so powerfully. She lived for a deeper connection. She always wanted a connection to both herself and to her surroundings. She didn’t turn people away, and she was rarely rude; and if you allowed yourself to open up to her like she was happy to do with you, you had a dear friend for life. I aspire to be like that. She was a great person, faults and all, and we all miss her. And it’s because of her that I never stop my pursuit: Never Stop, GET FIT. Josh Courage